David de Gea (31 years old) finds himself for the first time in a Champions League tie against Atlético de Madrid, the team that saw him born as a footballer. Despite the special nature of the clash, the Manchester United goalkeeper sees Wednesday’s game as just another game, as he has recognized in a interview granted to the UEFA website.
“I like the fact that I grew up in Madrid, but at the end of the day, it’s just a city”, explains the goalkeeper, who left the Spanish capital more than a decade ago. For this reason, he considers himself another Mancunian: “Now I feel like I’m from Manchester, like one more in the city. Your home is where you are loved and welcome. I’ve been here for many years and obviously anything can happen in the world of football, but I honestly don’t see myself outside of United.”.
However, the goalkeeper of the Spanish National Team appreciates that the mattress team gave him the alternative: “They gave me the opportunity to be who I am today, but it’s just one more game. Everyone wants to play well, we all want to win. It’s a Champions League match”, reflects De Gea, who has also had words for Quique Sánches Flores, who was his coach at Atlético de Madrid.
“When Quique arrived (in 2010), the team changed. We won game after game… and I played almost every game. We reached the Europa League final and we won it, we also reached the Copa del Rey final, which we lost, but then we won the European Super Cup against a great Inter Milan”, he recalls proudly.
The goalkeeper has improved and his technical conditions too, that’s why he explains: “I feel very comfortable playing with my feet, coming from behind, but it depends on the coach and the style of play. At United we try to play with a high defensive line but some opposing players are very fast and you can have problems.”